Monday, 31 October 2016

Most of us who are researching our ancestors are aware of the value of using newspapers for our research and how they assist us in understanding the social history of our ancestors. But few of us are aware of the value of using magazines for genealogy research.The National Library of Scotland is a national deposit library. As such, they receive copies of everything published in Scotland. That includes magazines. These magazines might be from your ancestor's place of employment, their social club or organization, their trade guild, their church, their regiment or their athletic club. Magazines like these often include:

obituaries

promotions

recognition for achievements

club celebrations

board of directors

election results

and perhaps best of all: PHOTOGRAPHS! The thousands of magazines available at the NLS are only available in-house but they are well worth looking through. You just never know what you might discover about your Scottish ancestor.

Saturday, 29 October 2016

In a recent conversation, the question was asked: What were the sleeping arrangements like when you were growing up?

My father was one of eight siblings. They
lived in a two bedroom miner's row house. Four girls were in one room, four
boys in the other. Beds were shared.

My mother was one of 20. And while they
were not all home at the same time, her and her siblings talk of sleeping
"head to toe" One person slept north/south on the bed and their
bed-mate slept south/north. Some slept across the bed as that gave more room.
They often slept three or four to a bed.

In both instances, there would often be times when kids who were not siblings joined in on and bunked down wherever they landed.

My granny used to love coming to Canada for her holidays. Three weeks, six weeks, three months, six months. She always started out at my aunt's house up the street, but within a few days, was at my mother's doorstep, bags in hand. I honestly can't recall where I ended up sleeping while Gran was visiting, I just know that when she was staying with us, my room became hers. It was never stated, it was understood.

I recall, too, spending a week at our neighbour's cottage. There were three families sharing a three bedroom cottage. My mum, my aunt's family and my uncle's family. The adults all had bedrooms. The rest of us (about 10 kids) slept on floors, sofas and cots in the living-room or kitchen. Sleep was fairly elusive as my mum and her brother spent the night calling out to one another and sharing stories, memories and jokes. But the memories are of laughter, love and spending the night wherever we could find a flat surface.

Friday, 28 October 2016

There is a Chinese proverb that states, "A family with an old person in it has
a nugget of gold". That is especially true for anyone researching
their family history. As any beginning genealogist knows, our older relatives
have a wealth of family history to share. It is vital to tap into this resource
and knowing how to get the information is the key to unlocking this treasure
trove of your family's history.

One of the best ways to evoke a memory is
through photographs. The visual sparks a recollection of the event, the people,
the joy, the laughter, the surrounding details. If you can spend time with an
older relative going through old photographs you will unleash a torrent of
memories. The opportunity will allow you to identify those in the photo, the reason
the photo was taken and sometimes tidbits of information about some of the
characters in the photo. One of the lovely things about the elderly is that
their filters relax as they age. Things that were once taboo to speak of with
others may now get shared quite freely ("she was always such a tart, you
know")

As you are spending time with family over
the holidays, at reunions, family celebrations, take advantage of the
opportunity to sit and speak with the elderly relatives. If photographs aren't
available ask questions that will evoke memories for them. If you are at a
wedding or christening, ask about weddings or christenings of long ago.

Thursday, 27 October 2016

On Saturday, November 5th, I will be speaking at the Kitchener Public Library's Genealogy Fair. This is one of my favourite Genealogy events. A full day of speakers, a marketplace and it's all available for FREE!This year's Keynote speaker is Jen Baldwin of FindMyPast. Jen will be speaking about engaging the Next Generation in genealogy and helping to spark the interest in people of all ages who share a passion for genealogy research. Check out the rest of the program: http://www.kpl.org/genealogy-fairHope to see you in Kitchener!

Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Once again I have been chosen to be an ambassador for RootsTech. However, at RootsTech 2017, I will also be a speaker and an exhibitor.

RootsTech is an incredible experience and can be a bit overwhelming. But it is definitely worth attending. The air is electric. The exhibit hall is huge and the talks are endless. But the best part about RootsTech are the connections that you make. With other researchers, with vendors, with speakers. Those last long after the week is over. Plan to attend in RootsTech in 2017. Plan to spend extra time in Salt Lake City so you can do research in the Family History Library. Wander through Temple Square. Drink in every aspect of the week in SLC. One of the Keynote speakers will be LeVar Burton! That alone is worth the trip!The Featured speakers for Family Discovery Day are Kalani Sitake, Hank Smith and Vai Sikahema. Family Discovery Day is a FREE day for families to come and learn about the importance of researching family history and documenting the stories of our ancestors.

Check out the rest of the program! https://www.rootstech.org/Hope to see you in SLC!*disclosure: As a RootsTech Ambassador, I receive free admission to the conference in exchange for sharing my experience on social media.

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Having just come back from the Great Canadian Genealogy Summit, I was once again reminded of how important it is to tell the stories of our ancestors. Jennifer DeBruin gave a moving and inspirational opening plenary where she shared the stories she has written about her ancestors and how she has become more intimately connected to them and their plight as a result. Then, Lynn Palermo gave us the "how-to" of putting the stories together. Both ladies were clear that we need to choose one ancestor and start with their story. It becomes too easy to become overwhelmed and the best way to start is to narrow yourself down to one person. One who has really spoken to you. No doubt you know their story inside and out and would be only too happy to share it at any genealogy or family gathering. Don't fret over writing. This story is a personal journey and one that you are likely only to be sharing with family and other descendants of the person you are writing about. If you can come into a genealogy meeting and tell me the story, you can write it! It's that simple. Take pen to paper and write as if you were telling me the story.

Monday, 24 October 2016

Poor relief in Scotland required a process of application
and given that specific criteria needed to be met, not everyone who applied
actually received poor relief. However, the applications are an absolute
treasure trove of genealogical information and can give a fantastic
"peek" into the lives of y our ancestors.

Sunday, 23 October 2016

There is a big crowd-sourcing project underway to assist with preserving the names of local towns, villages, estates, farms and streets of 1900 Scotland. And best of all, it is incredibly easy to use. Here's a walk through:Warning: this project can be highly addictive!Click on: http://gb1900.org/

Click "Login"

Scroll down the page and click on "Sign Up"

Fill in your email address, create a password, fill in your name and you are ready to go. Return to the home pageRead through the tutorial. It is not lengthy and is really easy to follow. Return to the home page. Scroll to the bottom and enter the area of Scotland where your ancestors lived. Even if they didn't live there in 1900.

Wait for the map to loadZoom inClick transcribe at the top of the page.

Click on any word on the map. Then in the pop up box, type the word that is visible on the map. The transcription program is case sensitive, so pay attention. Then click "done" You will see a brown location balloon appear.

If you see a green location balloon on the map, it means someone has already transcribed the word and that transcription needs verification. If you click on that green balloon and then type in what you see, the program will check to ensure your typing matches the other person's typing, and the green balloon will then turn purple.

Purple balloons mean that the word on the map has been transcribed AND verified. The transcription is complete. If your area is all completed, find a new area to transcribe. Well, what are you waiting for? Enjoy your new black hole of genealogy fun!http://gb1900.org/

Saturday, 22 October 2016

Old handwriting can be difficult to read (although
studies show that those of us who spend hours pouring over old documents trying
to decipher what has been written are better at memory retention than those who
don't). Penmanship was only available to the educated - clergy or teachers,
usually. And in those days, uniformity was more important than legibility.
Don't despair. Here are a couple of websites to assist with "cracking the
code" on Scottish Handwriting.http://www.scottishhandwriting.com/

Friday, 21 October 2016

In
July 1803, three ships, the Dykes, the Polly, and the Oughton sailed to Canada with eight hundred former highland crofters
and headed to Prince Edward Island.
The Polly arrived in the harbour
of Orwell Bay, Prince Edward Island on Sunday, August 7th,
1803, carrying 250 adults and 150 children. Most of these passengers were from
Skye. The Dykes, which also brought Lord Selkirk, arrived in Charlottetown two days after the Polly. Most
of the passengers on the Polly were from Mull.
The Oughton arrived on August 27th, 1803, carrying another 40 or 50 passengers,
this time from Uist.

The land given to these new settlers consisted primarily of
evergreen forest. Each family was given between 50 and 150 acres for a nominal
fee. The lots were laid out so that four or five families were grouped
together. The
new immigrants quickly cleared their lands, built their houses, and settled
into their new lives. Being able to working the land once again became somewhat
of a tonic for them. They were a self sufficient community within a year of the
first settlers arriving. Later generations moved to
the BruceCounty
area of Ontario, setting up communities along
the SaugeenRiver
near Paisley as well as along the coast of Lake Huron from Southampton
to Kincardine. Yet others moved to Assiniboia, Saskatchewan
and founded settlements in that area.

Having
used his land on the southwest shore
of PEI for the initial settlers, Selkirk
was eager to continue to pursue his original desire to find land in Upper Canada. He was
eventually able to purchase land in Southern Ontario, near the junction of Lake
St. Clair and the DetroitRiver, in what is now Wallaceburg.

Selkirk was able to purchase 116,000 square miles in
the Red RiverValley
and along the AssiniboineRiver in Manitoba
and what is now Northern Dakota – an area five times the size of the whole of Scotland. Selkirk
purchased this land at a cost of 10/s ($26.50 in today’s currency).

If you have ancestors who were Selkirk Settlers, here are
some resources to assist you in your genealogy research:

Thursday, 20 October 2016

Brick Wall Busters
for Scottish Genealogy Research

Mon, Nov 7, 2016 7:00
PM - 8:00 PM EST

Scottish documents contain a wealth of information and can
make researching so much easier when you really take a look at what the
documents are telling you. It becomes important to really pay attention to the
key words on the documents so that you know what records you need to look at
next in order to break through brick walls and learn as much as you can about
your Scottish ancestors.

As North America was still forming, Highland men were specifically recruited
to assist with keeping the new settlements safe.

The first such recruitment in 1734 was a group of Highlanders
from Inverness and surrounding areas who were recruited by General James Edward
Oglethorpe to protect the settlement of Savannah, Georgia. They traveled on the
Prince of Wales and the passenger
list has been transcribed by the Immigrant Ship's Transcription Guild. The list
is available at:

From 1775-1784, 2000 Scots highlanders were
recruited to the 84th Regiment of Foot
which defended the lands in the 13 colonies and then fought on the side
of the British government in the American Revolutionary War. These men had
military experience in the Seven Years War. The 84th Regiment of Foot was
divided into two companies. The muster and pay lists for both companies can be
found here:

After the Revolutionary War, the 84th Regiment of
Foot disbanded and the men settled in Nova Scotia as United Empire Loyalists.
They were given land grants of between 100 acres (for privates) and 500 acres
(for Officers). To search the indexes
for these early landgrants, consult:http://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/?Search=THlan&List=all

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

GUELPH ONTARIO - Clans and Scottish Societies of Canada (CASSOC) is pleased to announce that they will be hosting the Scottish North American Leadership Conference in 2017 to commemorate the 150th birthday of both Canada and Ontario.

The Conference will be held August 10—12, 2017 at the University of Guelph and will tie into the Fergus Scottish Festival, one of the largest and oldest Scottish Festivals in Canada.

This three-day event in Ontario will celebrate the long history and rich heritage of the Scots who shaped the fabric of our great nations.

The goal of this celebratory event will be to bring together the Scottish Diaspora to jointly explore the nature of Scottish History and Heritage in North America, to

examine the value of the diverse contributions of these groups, and to develop ways to pass this rich history, culture, and these traditions onto our youth.

The event is open to all persons with an interest in Scottish heritage, history or

It
is important to note that spelling was not consistent until dictionaries made
it standard in the 1800s. Until this time, spelling was quite fluid and tended
to be according to the enumerator or registrar. Often this was done in a manner
similar to phonetic spelling. It is not uncommon, then, to find that your
ancestor's surname changed from Clerke, to Clarke and then to Clark.
All sound the same in Scotland
(clark) and yet the spelling has evolved over
time. This becomes important, too, to ensure you don't rule out people who
might be your ancestor, but who you have ignored based on the (mis)spelling of
the surname.

As
a standard, surnames in Scotland
weren't adopted by the common man until about the 1600s. Prior to that, people were
known by patrynomics (Donald, son of John or Donald John's son), by physical
trait (John the Red - Red John - for someone who might have been a redhead, by
location (Thomas by the burn or Thomas Burn) or by occupation (David the miller
or David Miller). Once surnames became common practice, many of these former
descriptors were adopted as surnames. Others, particularly the Highlanders or
border clans, took on the surname of the clan chief or landowner for the estate
they lived or worked on. For this reason, not everyone named Wallace, for
example, is related to William Wallace. Nor is every Mc/MacDonald related to
the clan chief.

People
often have questions about the Mc vs Mac surnames. Some understand that one is
Irish and the other is Scottish, while others understand that one is Catholic
while the other is Protestant. In reality, they are interchangeable. Both Mc
and Mac are the anglicanized spelling of the Gaelic M' or M'hic. M'hic or M'
for short, means "son of" in Gaelic. This has been transcribed over
the centuries as Mc or Mac, depending on the transcriber and their
understanding of how the prefix is spelled. In Irish, the common prefix is O'
which is the translation from the Irish Gaelic, again meaning "son
of" So whether your ancestors were Mc or Mac, don't discount the other
spelling in the event you might also be discounting your ancestor and his/her
documents!

Tuesday, 18 October 2016

In
old documents we often read about the wages of our ancestors, or how much they
paid for their rent, home, funeral etc. Have you ever wondered what the
equivalent of that would be today? Here's a website that will help you to gain
a better understanding of the value "back then" to the equivalent
value today:

Monday, 17 October 2016

Often
as we read old documents, we find words that are unfamiliar to us. Old
occupations and old diseases are likely the two most common. But that doesn't
need to stump us or stop us in understanding more about our ancestor.

A
common cause of death for women in the 1800s was Milk Fever - an infection
following childbirth but one that people thought was associated with nursing
women. Milk Leg was another complication of childbirth - today we know this to
be caused by clotting in the legs following childbirth, but in the 1800s this
again was associated with nursing mothers.

There
were a myriad of illnesses commonly listed on death records but that are
unfamiliar to us in the 21st century. Here's a list to some of the more common
causes of death in the 1800s: http://rmhh.co.uk/illness.html

Sunday, 16 October 2016

Sometimes we find that the terms used to describe the occupations that our ancestors
had are confusing. Was your ancestor a Carter? A Legger? A Teamster? Old occupations can be a
great source of information about your ancestors and how they lived. But
cracking the definitions of the trades or occupations can sometimes be a
challenge.

Here's a link to a website with an alphabetical
listing of old occupations. Have a look and see if you can figure out what your
ancestor did for a living: http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/index.html

Friday, 14 October 2016

Having
spent several weekends at highland games this summer, assisting people with
their Scottish genealogy research, likely the most common comment I heard
was,"I'm not sure what clan I
Belong To" As simple as the question seems, the answer is a tad more
complicated. You see, most people think that a clan is a family and implies a
family connection, but that just isn't so. Let’s have a wee look at just what a
clan is.

Here
is a definition from BrainyQuote:

Clan:
A clique; a sect, society, or body of persons; esp., a body of persons united
by some common interest or pursuit

Clans
really are communities, similar to a Kibbutz in Israel
or a commune in Haight-Ashbury, or a sorority
in University. A group of people who choose to belong to one another. A
collective of individuals with a common purpose.

It
is a common misconception that every person who bears a clan's name is an
actual descendant of the Clan Chief. Clans are simply groups of people who
unite together in loyalty to the battle Chieftan.

While
Scottish clans can provide those with a common surname a sense of identity, in
reality, surnames were fairly irrelevant to the early highlanders and they
would switch their names according to their loyalties at the time. This was
especially true during times of battle, and battles were a frequent part of the
history of Scotland.
Most clansmen took the chief's surname as their own to show solidarity, for
basic protection, or even for simple survival.

The
word clan is derived from 'clann' meaning 'family' in the Scottish Gaelic
language. When people take this as a literal translation, they can become
disillusioned to discover they are not able to establish that they are related
to the Chief. Or that they are barking along the wrong genealogical line in
automatically assuming a blood relationship. Some clansmen were related of
course with marriages happening within the clans, but many were not actually
descended from the Chieftan. DNA will not necessarily show your relationship to
the Clan Chief. In any clan, it is the allegiance that is significant, not the
blood relationship.

In
the days when allegiance to a clan chieftain was a matter of survival, you
could not belong to more than one clan. The clan system essentially died in the
aftermath of the battle of Culloden. Following Culloden, there was a systematic
effort to suppress the Highland way of life.

Thanks
to Sir Walter Scott and the Highland Society of London, the wearing of tartan
started to see a resurgence. And other pieces of highland life started to also
emerge once again. Today, since there is no need to pledge allegiance to one
clan and one clan only, based on survival (food, shelter, protection), it
really is quite possible to belong to more than one clan. Few have rules that
preclude membership in other clans. So, if you want to belong to the clan
society for every Scottish surname in your ancestral tree, you certainly have a
right to do so (again, depending on the clan society's membership rules). Most
people are happy to have membership in one or two clans (surname of a maternal
line and a paternal line, perhaps). And as for tartan, the only rules are that
you can't wear the tartans that have restricted access (the tartan designed for
a clan chief, royalty or other rare selective tartans). Otherwise, it is open
game. Wear the tartan that you associate with, the tartan whose colours you
most admire or whose cause you support. And wear it proudly.

To
see a listing of tartans, their associations and the restrictions, if any,
regarding who can wear them, visit the Tartan Register website at: https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/

Thursday, 13 October 2016

I love Google. It's simple, efficient,
opens a world of knowledge and makes me feel smart just through its simplicity
and ease of use. But did you know that Google is one of the best resources for
genealogists?

Reading a census and not sure exactly what your
ancestor did for a living? Google it

Reading a death registration and not sure
what your great, great aunt died of? Google it

Unsure where exactly your ancestor lived in
their state or even in their "old" country? Google it

Looking for a genealogy society that deals
with the region your ancestor lived in? Google it

Need a professional genealogist "on
the ground" in your ancestral homeland? Google it.

To get a feel for where your ancestor
lived, go for the details. Don't just Google Lanarkshire Scotland
Or even Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Instead, Google the actual address that is listed in the document. When the
results page comes up, click on "maps" then zoom in using
"street view" It may not show your ancestors home, but will show you
what is there now. Go back to the "web" tab and scroll down to see if
the results page has old maps or even stories or information about the street,
home, village.

Don't sweat the small stuff. The most
relevant results to your query are all on the first page, so don't panic about
the fact that you get 3,245,692 results.

To drill down to the relevant pages that
Google searches on your behalf, try using the "and" command. Thomas Fowler and Shotts will alert
Google to the fact that you are not just looking for any old Thomas Fowler, but
that you are specifically interested in Thomas Fowlers from Shotts. This will
give you a much different result than if you had not used the "and"
command. Quick tip: use the word and
rather than the plus sign. Using the plus sign limits your search to items
within the Google+ platform.

Next, remove the unnecessary. To find your
ancestor Jonathan Ford, use the phrase Jonathan
Ford -cars. This will filter out all the references to Ford vehicles. Quick tip: don't leave a space between
the minus sign and the word you want eliminated.

Note that if you use quotation marks around
your search term, Google will only return results with the two terms together. This
may eliminate some useful results. You may search for "Jonathan Ford" but the results page won't show any
references to his wife Lucille Ford and her husband Jonathan. The reason - you
specifically asked for references to Jonathan where he is listed with his full
name. By using quotations, you are limiting the results.

One fantastic resource for genealogy is
Google Books. You will find this under the "More" tab at the top of the search results. Google has made
out of copyright, often out of print, books freely available. Many of these
books have to do with the lives and times of our ancestors. They may be
histories of the places our ancestors lived or worked, government commission
reports, lists of people transported from the UK to the colonies and so much
more. You can type your search words in the
search bar, and then when the results are returned, simply click on "More" then "Books" and this will change the
focus of the results.

If you are unsure of anything about the
lives of your ancestors: how they lived, what their occupation was like, their
villages etc you can use the "Image" feature. Again, type your query
in the search bar and then when the results are returned, click on "Images" and this will give you
picture results that will let you "see" various aspects of what life
was like during the times when your ancestor lived.

You can also drag and drop a photo into the
search bar and the results will be photos that are similar to the item in your
photograph!

Finally, you can let Google search while
you can't. You can set up a Google Alert. To do this, click on https://www.google.com/alerts In the
search box type in the words you want Google to alert you about when new
content is published to the web. Click "Create alert" then click on
the pencil icon and set up the frequency that you want to receive your
notifications, the region of the world for Google to check, how many results
you want returned (only the best
usually is sufficient) and the email address to where the alerts should be
sent. Then sit back and wait for the emails to come in.

In the alert query box, you can type your
ancestor's name, a surname or village that you are researching, or just about
anything else you want.

Wednesday, 12 October 2016

One of the many issues with the ability to
open an account and start building your family tree online, is that this
process completely negates the basic
building blocks of genealogy research. We wouldn't read a book written by
someone who had never learned grammar or spelling, so why do we think it is
alright to pay attention to family trees built by people without learning the
basic skills of genealogical research?

Start
at the Beginning:

Start with yourself. Document everything
you know - your full name, date and place of birth, date and place of baptism,
where you went to school, where you worked. If you are married, document how
you met, when and where you married. Who was in your wedding party, where you
had your reception, honeymoon and any other details you can think of. Document
your children - their birth dates, and places, weddings etc.

After you have exhausted all of the
information for yourself, start working your way backwards - your parents, your
siblings, your grandparents, their children etc.

Search
One Line at a Time:

Stick with one line at a time. This will
help you to stay focused and to ensure that you fill in as many details as
possible. Once you have exhausted the line, move to the next line (generally
spouse of the line you are pursuing)

Talk
to Older Relatives:

Older relatives are a wealth of
information, either first hand, or stories that have been passed down through
the generations. Ask as many questions as you can. See the blog post on
interviewing older relatives for what to ask and how.

Take
Notes:

For all of the details of weddings, births,
relationships/courtships, work, school etc, use the notes tab in your family
history software

Use
a Paper Form FIRST:

Even in this electronic age, paper is
always best when starting your family tree. Have one family group record for
each individual branch of your family (parents, children). Once you have
collected all of the data on a paper record, you can start entering it into
your software program.

Organize
Your Research:

Start at the beginning and organize,
organize, organize. Make file folders for each individual family and place the
file folders in an expandable folder for each branch.

Cite
your Sources:

Start right from the beginning to cite your
sources. Document where you found the information, and where others can find
the same information. List the name of the document, the website or archives
that you recovered the document from, and any document number that is assigned
to the document. Have this information on your paper record and in your
software program.

Visit
a Genealogy Society or Family History Library:

Genealogy is all about connecting. Connect
with others through your local genealogy society or Family History Library. The
volunteers there are ready and willing to help you. Take advantage of that. The
societies often have workshops where you can meet with others and learn from
experts. Take advantage of their large collections of documents, files, obituaries, newspapers, cemetery
records and all of the wonderful bits and pieces that they have to offer.

Search
the Internet for Learning Opportunities:

Find webinars, workshops, conferences and
choose as many as you can afford. Genealogists are great at sharing what they
know and they want you to do well in your research. If you are able to attend a
conference or workshop in person, do so. The connections you make through
networking will be invaluable in your research.

Tuesday, 11 October 2016

The Mitchell houses a Genealogy Centre which is a hub
for the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh. Here you can access the same
databases as you can in Edinburgh. The same daily research fees of £15 apply.

The Mitchell also houses the Glasgow City Archives and its extensive collection relating to
the history of Glasgow including:

Maps

Poor relief records - these are perhaps the richest source of
genealogical information across any archival collection. The poor relief was
not for the unemployed, but for the unemployable. Lunatics, infirm, disabled,
or the elderly were eligible to apply for poor relief. Able bodied adults who
were capable of work were not eligible. The exception were women whose husband
had deserted them, widowed women or women with one or more children who were
illegitimate.

The
information in the applications are often rich with details on the lives of the
people who made the application.

Source for Irish Family History because of the influx of the Irish into
Glasgow at various times, the Glasgow City Archives has become an important
source for Irish Family History. Many of the Irish were in positions to have to
apply for poor relief and through these records, you can gain a wonderful sense
of their lives. Often you can find their counties, cities and townlands through
these applications as well.

Archival
materials pertaining to Glasgow businesses.
While these rarely include personnel information, they do include minute books
which may name your ancestor. As well, they have the financial records for the
business, some photographs and correspondence from the businesses.

Schools - beginning in 1870, head teachers were required
to keep a log book. This contains more social history than detailed information
on the individual students. It may talk about attendance being low for planting
or harvest or due to any illnesses. More important for family historians are
the school admission records. These may include names, previous schools
attended, reason for leaving the school, notes on siblings in the school.

Churches - ScotlandsPeople has the records for the
established church of Scotland. The Glasgow archives has records for all of the
other denominations. Records include tithe records, sick calls, kirk session
records (an absolute wealth of information), baptisms, marriages and burials or
mort cloth rentals.

Prison Records (Barlinnie)

Asylum Records (Glasgow Lunatic Asylum, renamed Glasgow Royal
Lunatic Asylum and now known as Gartnavel Royal Hospital)

Burial and lair records - these can tell you who purchased the lair, the
fee paid, the address of the purchaser, who is buried within the lair and
sometimes their relationship to the lair owner. Note that between 6 and 12
people can be buried within one lair. Other records held by the Glasgow
Archives includes obituaries and undertaker records.

NHS Archives. The NHS did not start in Scotland until 1948.

The
Glasgow Archives also have the estate records
for the island of Islay as well as the private papers for a number of landed
families. The information in these records can include rental books, leases or
tack agreements, correspondence, diaries and much more.

The
Mitchell has an extensive collection of photographs, documents and eye-witness
accounts regarding the Blitz on the Clydeside when the area was heavily bombed
during WWII, with factories and shipyards being the main target for
destruction.

If your ancestors were part of the Highland Clearances, it becomes difficult to find documentation for them. That's where consulting the Estate Papers might help. To find out about your ancestor prior to the
Clearances, the best resources for finding ancestors who might have been
cleared are the Estate Papers. Specifically the Rental Books, Accounts of Arrears and Removal Lists. These records, while some may be on deposit with an archival facility, remain the property of the family, so the place that houses them can not digitize or publish them. They are rarely indexed, generally just catalogued, so they require patience to have a look through them.

Here's where to find some of them:

The
Sutherland Estate Papers are on deposit at the National Library of
Scotland

The
Cromartie Estate Papers are on deposit with the National Records of Scotland

The Argyll Estate Papers remain with the Duke of Argyll and are
accessible by visiting the archives at Inverary Castle

The Buccleugh Estate Papers are on deposit with the National Records of Scotland

The Islay Estate Papers are at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow

The
Angus MacLeod Estate records are available for consultation at the
family's archives on the Isle of Lewis

Gairloch
Estate records are held at the Gairloch Museum and Archives and can be
viewed by appointment

Sunday, 9 October 2016

Birth announcements: these give names of the
parents as well as maiden name of mother. They often will include other family
members as well such as grandparents

Engagement/Marriage announcements: these give
names of each partner as well as parents for each person. In the older
newspapers, details about the bride's dress, her bridal party and names of the
groomsmen are also written about

Social Notices: these are fantastic sources of
detailed information. It can be about a child's birthday party, a card party,
who is visiting from out of town...the possibilities are endless and the read
is often quite informative

Death announcements/Obituaries/Funeral notices:
don't overlook the detail provided in these. Not only are family members
listed, but pay attention to the name of the funeral home. If it still exists,
chances are you can contact them and get details about the burial, the
plot/lair which includes who paid for it and who else might be buried alongside
your ancestor (spouse, children, parents)

Financial notices (bankruptcies, estate notices,
creditor notices): although these often signal a sad time for your ancestors,
they can provide important information regarding the lives of your ancestors

Police/Court/Criminal or Justice notices: another
treasure trove not only for genealogical information but also for family
history information. These notices are the spice of life when it comes to
putting the story of your ancestors together.

Reports of Accidents or other injury: again, while
not a pleasant find, the information can be invaluable in understanding the
events leading up to the accident or death and often will include information
regarding witnesses, family members, addresses and other salient details

Saturday, 8 October 2016

Nova Scotia has a long historic link with
Scotland, and not only in name. As early as 1624, King James I (King James VI
of England) offered a number of baronetcies to his loyal landowners. These land
grants were in what is now Nova Scotia. In order to fulfill the qualifications
of receiving crown land, the receiver was to stand on his plot of land and
declare allegiance to the King. The distance involved called for some
creativity and so King James VI & I declared a portion of Edinburgh Castle
as “Nova Scotia” so that the potential landowners could stand on this “portion
of Nova Scotia” and declare their allegiance without having to travel to the
Americas. On the wall, just outside the main gate of the Castle, is this sign:

The sign reads:

“Near
this spot in 1625 Sir William Alexander of Menstrie Earl of Stirling received
sasine or lawful possession of the Royal Province of Nova Scotia by the ancient
and symbolic ceremony of delivery of earth and stone from Castlehill by a
representative of the King. Here also, the Scottish Baronets of Nova Scotia
received sasine of their distant baronies.”

Of course at this time in history, Nova
Scotia incorporated parts of southern and eastern Maine as well as lower and
western New Brunswick, especially along the Fundy Coast.

Few working people in Scotland could afford a headstone. And while there are a number of really good places to get monumental inscriptions, it may not be beneficial in your research if your ancestors couldn't, in fact, afford a headstone. This is where cemetery or lair records become important. A lair is essentially a plot. Often these lairs would hold between 6 & 12 people.

Lair records provide valuable information such as the
owner’s name and address, date of purchase, names and dates of the deceased,
and the relationship to the owner. In addition to the name of the deceased and the name of the lair owner. you might also find additional charges for things like extra depth, carriage, dressing the lair, purchasing a new lair rather than opening an existing one and certificate fees.

In 1925 responsibility for the maintenance of Church graveyards was transferred to local authorities (or councils) in Scotland and from then burial records were no longer the responsibility of the Church, so in order to access the lair records, you would need to contact the local crematorium or local council archives where your ancestors was buried.

Thursday, 6 October 2016

The National Library of Scotland has the best digital map collection bar none http://maps.nls.uk

Maps can show you neighbouring counties where your ancestors may have met spouses or had children. And they can show you how county boundaries may have changed over time.

The older, John Wood maps (under the tab for town plans and views) show tremendous detail, often including the names of the inhabitants of homes in the town. These tend to be from the very early part of the 1800s.

Old maps are a fantastic resource for giving you a feel for the community that your ancestors lived in. You can see how rural or urban the area was, how large or small the village, what factories, mills, mines, schools, institutions, or other landmarks were in the area. You can see whether the area was mountainous or open field, whether there were any rivers or streams that ran through the area, or whether they were near a lake.

You can overlay maps and see how the area has changed over time - and in many instances can see that very little has changed over time!

You can also plot where your ancestors lived over several decades, using the census returns and valuation rolls. You might be surprised to find that although they may have moved several times, they likely stayed within a 5 or 10 mile radius of where they started.

About Me

Scottish born, Canadian raised, Christine Woodcock had the
best of both worlds, growing up immersed in Scottish culture. Realising that
others of the Scots diaspora were not as fortunate, she started her business,
Genealogy Tours of Scotland (https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/)
to allow others researching their Scottish roots the opportunity to return to
the land of their ancestors, conduct family history research and deepen their
sense of belonging to their ancestral kin.